The One MISTAKE Everyone is Making with SharePoint

[@MrBond249]

My biggest problem is folders, people just love having a folder, and sub-folders to Nth degree, to put stuff in to.

[@Bradds68]

I could not agree more! Why are people obsessed with folders, and sub-folders.

[@Locomaid]

Having worked in large and medium-sized Engineering companies, I know why we have folders. In one previously successful company, the top management decided (on advice of an „IT consultant“) to remove all folders and use tags when migrating to Sharepoint. Disaster. No one could find anything anymore a version control was lost completely and files were overwritten by mistake as those with the same name (processes) were not split into project folders. The company did not survive. I am not sure if shareholders sued or not.

[@MrBond249]

@Locomaid I'm thinking more of the people that like to create layers and layers of folders. If only we could limit folder creation to just a single layer.

[@Locomaid]

@@MrBond249 I am one of those…(said meekly). I number them so they also appear in the right order 🤣. Comes from programming and syntax: up and down-chunking information…

[@richardwaldron1684]

Totally agree. Leave them behind on a file server people, metadata and views are the future

[@driver288]

You’re absolutely right! I do this always when migrating file servers to SharePoint. One or more sites per department depending on size or for larger orgs a region/department setup. I also am a Trams advocate and often recommend adding teams from the get go for the SP sites of appropriate. Sensitive sites I usually turn off external sharing for but keeping it in for less sensitive data such as marketing where you want to share externally. Also for collaborations I do prefer shared channels in teams for two main reasons. Security since the shared channel in fact is a separate site, and ease of use not having to switch orgs in teams to collaborate. But it requires an admin setting for B2B sharing to be set for it to work.

[@julianvargas2401]

Hi Jonathan, do you have a video showing how to properly set up a team page within the company SharePoint site? Thanks for the tips!

[@jRufus66]

Great video as usual!! As somebody else has already mentioned, I would add a 5th reason which is the character length limitation for a file's full path in SharePoint. It's a powerfull and objective reason that may force users to rethink their migration strategy.

[@Wahinies]

I just dont understand why people create paths like this. I was tasked with creating reports for all shares at a client to find paths longer than 255 characters and the longest was 311 with a folder literally named "files that won't copy." And the owner of the folder was an IT user!! 🫢

[@LlamaOates]

Character length is huge issue. You can change windows registry to accept 32,000+ character but Excel, Word etc is still stuck on 259 max path length which is infinitely annoying.

[@TheCof6656]

@@LlamaOates what do you mean with path length? My record in SharePoint 365 is a URL with 738 characters so far. Are you guys talking about the server version? o_o (the title of files and folders in SharePoint 365 can be up to 400 characters)

[@DaveLaneGC]

Absolutely - its a LOT easier to setup these sites early on than do it retrospectively !

[@SeiferAlmasy21]

You can create a single SP site with multiple document libraries and set the access level on Document Library. There are multiple ways to Rome. However, if you do not want external sharing on site level (in the SP ADMIN site level) and granular security the advice in this video is OK.

[@michaeledwards2419]

Yes you can but then if you want the right groups, teams. Planners etc to work effectively then setting up this way makes complete sense. Also within each SP site you could use different libraries to restrict certain documents and files to higher restricted teams members. Then from a management peace you are only managing the users still within that group. It’s good practice IMO especially if you have a large org.👍

[@adamjellinek9141]

Do you know how to insert more details about who edited a Word document in a SharePoint library? Specifically, since the system sees the name and surname, how do I get the field containing the email and phone number of that person. I need to physically insert them in the document and I would like to automate this so that the person editing the document does not have to do it manually.

[@howardsteffey8821]

Extremely well presented information. Thank you taking the time out to produce such a high-quality explainer video.

[@ddmurrayjr]

I thought MS did away with calendars with/for SharePoint sites but you mention getting a calendar when creating a group. How do you access the calendar?

[@matthouse99]

I'm still trying to figure out SharePoint, so I'm no expert. That said, I think the calendar functionality is more of a side effect or feature of using a Microsoft 365 Group rather than SharePoint specifically. M365 groups include a distribution group and calendar.

[@Gaben162]

Really good content here. Might want to tone down the sound effects - I find them distracting.

[@mooripo]

good videos buddy, btw, the Swoosh sound is very stronk

[@ensarguler7684]

Is there an easy way to show different SP site document libraries in one page? I am concerned of ending up having lots of SP sites which could make it difficult for people to locate the documents.

[@ndkblackhawk]

The SharePoint Admin center. It lists up all the SharePointsites and their description (if filled in)

[@EclipsedMemories]

Switch off this annyoing wind sound when change pic. It's take all the focus from the topic.

[@anonaminee8478]

RIGHT

[@Traitorman..Proverbs26.11]

You are easily distracted. Are you sure Sharepoint is your thing?

[@loribecker3474]

@@Traitorman..Proverbs26.11 Many offices require SharePoint use - whether users are easily distracted or not.

[@davewebster4246]

@@Traitorman..Proverbs26.11 Not sure sharepoint is anyone's things. It's the product that keeps getting pulled out of the fire..

[@OneandOnly-zs4eq]

yup. had to find another source for this information. cant deal with useless sound effects every 2 seconds

[@mchousewar]

Here's where I'm struggling. I want each department to OWN their business data, but I also need different departments to collaborate where responsibilities overlap like a Venn Diagram. Further, I want to add meta-data that specifies the Vendor, or the Item, or the Customer that's associated with various records or documents, but SharePoint doesn't allow me to maintain a single Vendor List in a Vendor Management Site and link it to AP Invoices in the Accounting Site and Contracts in the Legal Site. I either have to put everything in one site where it has access to the Master Lists, or I have create redundant Master Lists wherever they are needed. How do you square the circle of maintaining separation of concerns while still facilitating collaboration? Do PowerApps offer solutions that bridge the gap? Teams?

[@alfred576]

Great video Jonathan, thank you. What software or utilities do you recommend to manage sharepoint online (M365) permissions? Currently I am setting permissions using the web browser which is a total nightmare. I quickly realized that SP permission are much harder to implement that using file explorer on NTFS volumes. Also noticed that if you delete a M365 user from the admin centre it doesn't remove it automatically from sharepoint groups.

[@chap666ish]

Sharegate can create permission reports. However, I find those are far too complex (i.e. very user-unfriendly) for the average site owner. So we have created a number of PowerShell scripts which create *simple* reports for each doc lib in each site.

[@Bradles6666]

What I would love to see is a "So your organisation has set it up making that fundamental error... here is how to effectively retrofit in that environment" - that is where I am at right now, and all the info I find simply gives reasons not to start that way. The reality is that it happens, and the best training would be on getting the most of a poor environment.

[@bearded365guy]

Noted. Let me see if I can create a video for that.

[@Bradles6666]

@@bearded365guy thank you very much for the reply. Dig your vids mate. Hope that didn't come off as negative - it is literally where I find myself as of last Friday!

[@sty0pa]

​@@bearded365guyThanks for the videos! I'm looking forward to this one when you make it as we were basically compelled by our corporate HQ to abandon a local-office fileserver and 'move to sharepoint'. Lacking any coaching, we thought SP would be basically like a cloud Z:\ drive, and moved our whole file structure (200k files) up to the cloud. So yeah, we're basically EXACTLY where you said we shouldn't be. :| Now I don't know what to do; onedrive can't cope with keeping 200k+ files synced (we don't honestly need that anyway), but I don't know how to fix this short of what appears to be retraining 5 highly-tech-averse staff basically a completely new UI and file management approach.

[@bearded365guy]

Drop me an email. I can help.

[@leanneagraham]

Same! ​@@sty0pa

[@madwhitehatter]

Did you listen to me speak somewhere? I always tell people that libraries are like lockable filing cabinets. That is where I advise breaking permission. I also advise against using Documents for a folder structure if it is a Teams site because it gets junked up with attachments from Planner and Teams discussions.

[@tmb8807]

1:33 Ugh. We did exactly this. Recently I thought it was starting to be rectified, as I was told a lot of our documents were going to be moving... but what happened was that they just moved to another document library within the same site! 🤦🏻‍♂

[@bearded365guy]

Sorry to hear that

[@ibocuss]

What about SharePoint sub-site? Do you recommend to have a top-level site and sub-sites for each dept or a top level site for each dept?

[@eingoluq]

Never use sub sites… never again. Microsoft has the sub site feature still available but they do not recommend using sub sites anymore. You should have separate sites for each department. Then have a home site that is considered a hub site. Then you add those department sites to your hub site. Sub sites are always attached to the host site and difficult to dissociate. If your company scales, and a decision is made to make your Sales site its own hub site. It is easy to do so. With a sub site you will have to move all your documents to a new site.

[@ensarguler7684]

@@eingoluq What if a company organizes its customer documents by department, such as having a Department (SharePoint site) > Customer Name (Document Library) structure? In this scenario, what constitutes best practice? Should we manage permissions at the document library level, or should we create a separate site for each department.customer? My concern with the latter option is ending up with lots of sites, which could make it difficult for people to locate the documents.

[@eingoluq]

@@ensarguler7684 perhaps, showing you what I am doing may help you decide? I'm a solopreneur. I have a business that does -Architectural design services (one off projects where each project gets a site and is a part of our architecture projects hub site) -branding design services (one off or ongoing projects, with each client's brand gets their own site. If they have multiple brands that we run, each gets their own site and each is under the branding design projects site ) -Real Estate (a site per agent and each site is under the real estate hub site) I never have multiple clients in anything except the real estate site because real estate is rather unique in their structure. There is limited need to collaborate like in an architectural project and a lot less documents. So having one site per agent helps with that agent managing their tens to hundreds of listing's easier. Having multiple sites per listing would become an issue really quickly. That being said, I forsee a scenario where a real estate listing can evolve into a property management opportunity so it may help that each listing is it's own site. Or an architectural design project becomes a listing and then property management. So that approach may change for me. If I have much more exclusive and expensive listings. Where we mange much less listings. This is the same issue you are having I suspect. I think it always depends on the scale of the projects and how much collaboration you want between your staff, clients and contractors. Because sites tend to come with their own top level permissions, I think the best practice is that each project/customer gets its own site (in general) why? Because sharepoint sites are more set up to be "project based". For example anything that has a defined start and end date, has a specific resources list, a list of contacts for that project, product lists and issues for that specific project and of course team members. Each project is a different team, even though they may have the same team members. So if you don't have a large amount of clients and they have a large set of documents, specific people assigned to the client etc. Give that client it's own site. But if the client information are more static in nature and it is in the Hundreds you may need to use on site toanage everything. Hope that helps and I didnt confuse you too much.

[@herbbastin7966]

IT Handyman Herb here. What should I do once I've made the mistake of putting everything in one SharePoint site (for a law firm, no less)? Most or all of about 10 employees generally need to access most of the folders with client information and records. Thanks!

[@bearded365guy]

@@herbbastin7966 I would start to design an ideal SP layout and start migrating between the sites.

[@oldgoogle-w9x]

@@bearded365guy what tool do you use to move data between sites?

[@angelenewiese3787]

Morning Jonathan I want to ask 2 things totally off the topic. Hope you can assist. Can I color folders without downloading software. We have 3 salespeople and on sharepoint I need to know which client belongs to which salesperson. Second question. Are there any way how I can automatically save emails to specific folders on sharepoint?

[@bearded365guy]

Hi, yes you can colour folders right within the web version of OneDrive/Sharepoint. You could use Outlook rules to move emails to SharePoint?

[@angelenewiese3787]

@@bearded365guy thank you 😊

[@enricvm6826]

I am a solo consultant working with several clients and I share the working spaces/teams/folder however you wanna call it - What is the sharepoint best set up I can have?

[@yannicziegler5109]

What are the cost implications?

[@KCKirk-h4x]

I’ve seen references to Sharepoint ever since I got MS Office 365. So I take it One Drive must be using Sharepoint?

[@bearded365guy]

OneDrive is for your personal files. SharePoint is for shared data.

[@oldgoogle-w9x]

From a tech perspective, a user's OneDrive is a simplified SharePoint site, but it has a different use case as Mr Beard mentions.

[@kimomuhminn]

In our org, many useres sync document library and sync a folder or folders inside the same doc library, and the sy\ubfolders stop syncing, and causing issues, can you give a video about that aswell, the issues from syncing doc librray and a subfolder inside it

[@sherrielanel]

Hello! Great video. I have two different sites that need to be integrated as one and placed under the main site. Can I just copy the information from the one site, or in this process, I may run out of space? Thank you

[@msbutterfly714]

Can you move sharepoint and the pdfs in it to a new software program? (Like Syteline etc)

[@micheleroberts1006]

This is helpful, and I'm wondering how to fix a mess after the fact. Do y'all do sharepoint cleanups?

[@bearded365guy]

@@micheleroberts1006 Yes - create new sites and migrate the data

[@SergeTreshchov]

is it worth to create a SharePoint site for each project (in this instance - construction project)

[@CBHTech]

I struggle with clients who want to treat SharePoint like a network drive. Dump all content into a single document library in a single site. Sync that document library and, hey presto, you have recreated the old network drive! Except Microsoft places processing restrictions on a library that has over 100,000 items.

[@bearded365guy]

Completely agree. I think it would be helpful to do some training pre-migration to explain that this isn’t a new network drive, it’s something different, something better.

[@michaeledwards2419]

Organisations like that will still have people trying to use wetransfer to send large amounts of files to someone else internally as they then won’t bother to explain it properly if they just take that attitude at the start 😉😎

[@matthewc1976]

are there any downsides to creating Entra security groups and applying sharepoint sites access using those?

[@bearded365guy]

No, that’s a good way to go

[@twangt]

Great video as always! :) Do you have any upcoming videos, for example, on best practices regarding Compliance, Information Protection, Data Lifecycle Management, and similar topics in SharePoint? I have watched your other videos as well, but I'm particularly interested in best practices related to data security in this area! :)

[@bearded365guy]

Let’s do it

[@gian86lu]

Is there a possibility to make a backup?

[@bearded365guy]

Yes, Microsoft are now launching their own

[@theoyiorkas]

@@bearded365guycan you make a video about this and how to set it up? 🙂

[@michaeledwards2419]

Really good video again. Expecially for someone that looks to migrate my org over from network drives and poor sharing and collaboration. 👍

[@JeffCergnul]

Dude, I watch all of your videos! You are the best on the web!

[@lazaroalvarezcarrasco9130]

HI Jonatan...So, if my users are having sync issues (a change in a file may take up to one day to upload) what can I tell them? Is there a list of things to do as an admin to prevent this to happen? They all hate the web version of Sharepoint, they prefer having them mapped in the Windows Explorer via OneDrive Shortcut for sure haha.

[@oldgoogle-w9x]

Make sure you are using the modern Office file formats xlsX, pptX, docX. They are smaller and work better with sync, sharepoint and coauthoring.

[@WeekendMuse]

Excellent reasons. Well done with this short, to the point video.

[@glennquinlan]

I’m using a Synology NAS that syncs with OneDrive for Business. Do I still need Sharepoint?

[@bearded365guy]

If you’re working alone, OneDrive is fine. SharePoint is usually for teams

[@glennquinlan]

Small office. 4 of us. No remote work but I can access the entire digital environment remotely via OneDrive for Business and Synology.

[@nai2881]

but it's so slow and buggy

[@eduitguy9016]

Great video. But I'm amassed its even needed. Are people really taking something as powerful as Sharepoint Sites and making one company site?

[@justepic7029]

At what point are you moving from one SP site to many? 15 employees or larger? Or are you separating no matter the size of the company?

[@bearded365guy]

It’s not a size or company thing - it’s more of the different types of data you have

[@tsarrite]

What about different doc libraries on the same site with broken site permission inheritance that have synced azure AD groups assigned that provides some automation through the companies PeopleSoft on boarding and off boarding provisioning process? I agree with your design and did that at my last job but I walked into a new job where the cats already out of the bag and they set it up this way and it pains me to continue this way.

[@diamondcascadeblackspring7260]

Love the explanations. Thank you ❤😊

[@kaijohnson5685]

I am also thinking about this in terms of CoPilot segmentation...

[@geerace9861]

Hi. I’ve been watching your videos tryin to set it all up myself. I visited your website too. How can I send a message to yourself directly?

[@bearded365guy]

[e-mail]

[@danmosby7980]

Hi Jonathn. I found i have to removethe site groups because the default group lets anyone see the file in the sun folders. is the is standard. I then had to have 5 main folders and usually one more secure, I then provide secuirity groups to separate the two types of folder to restrict certain staff from management type folder. Is this correct. This makes the original three three levels of site groups redundant. eg zThe site veiw group can see all folders regardlees of security. The issue is then staff dont see the site in search becuase i am not using site level groups?!!!

[@pmartin3731]

Very helpful!

[@KashifRazaSundrani]

Amazing Explanation. 😊

[@L3TH4L1TY]

Barely 2 mins in and laughing because it's exactly what TMB did when my employer moved data. The pain is that a dozen users share the same computers and each MS account (OneDrive) was downloading ALL those files until we got them to force 'On demand' only.

[@bearded365guy]

Oh dear 🤣

[@justinogarcia3705]

People treat SharePoint document library like a network file share with subfolders all nested and sync issue.

[@alaynaxmichelle]

BRO the swoosh SFX is so annyoing. Literally had to watch the video on mute with captions on.

[@e-milk1211]

I like swoshis

[@Noursbear]

another excellent one

[@Joejoe_ultra]

great video. ditch the transition sound please. it was used like...120 times? Tooo much

[@martylewis.operations]

Could not agree with and support this structure more!

[@bearded365guy]

Thanks Marty

[@canningcoyle0]

love your videos, but this one has waaaaayyy to many "whoosh" noises for each screen change

[@ruisantos7939]

I've never heard of any IT company moving all their data to a single sharepoint site.

[@Thishandleisnt_available]

We’re testing that rn…. Not sure what we’re doing tbh.

[@Thishandleisnt_available]

We’re no it company but internal department

[@bearded365guy]

I’ve seen soooooo many

[@punk-munki]

It happens and it breaks

[@oldgoogle-w9x]

Happens all the time. Especially for Google Workspace to M365.

[@mhc_isme]

The condescending tone is hilarious!

[@bearded365guy]

Ouch

[@OneandOnly-zs4eq]

sound effects on this video are distracting. very annoying

[@olanordmann8588]

Man UTD most talented player ever RIP

[@BartAssink]

Awesome

[@vader2641]

Too Many "whooshs"!!

[@markazcpa3]

Correct

[@VMANIKKAM]

👍👍💯💯

[@PaulMartin-fu5qg]

Hate all the swooshing on this channel

[@Nosuchthingasnormalhere]

I think every business should not use sharepoint at all. It's rubbish with a capital R.

[@Wahinies]

For deep nested folders and syncing to file explorer yes but there are workarounds and when used properly is more powerful than other cloud hosted solutions.

[@doctari1061]

Lose the sound effects

[@cdoubleu8719]

You did not meet hundres of companies with just 1 sharepoint site. Anyone with common sense knows this is stupid.

[@bearded365guy]

I still do…. Every week

[@seanmui8772]

remove the background music.

[@ChildishDfollowsGod]

Wonderful Video. Just Wonderful

[@bearded365guy]

Thank you